Agni II test fired from Abdul Kalam island off Odisha

Strategic Forces Command (SFC) successfully test fired Agni II medium-range nuclear-capable missile from Abdul Kalam island off the Odisha coast on Tuesday. The missile has a strike range of more than 2,000 km. Agni II has already been inducted into the Indian Army.

The Agni-II is designed to be launched from a rail-mobile launcher and it is also available in road-mobile configuration. This lends flexibility to the weapon system and reduces vulnerability to first strike. Agni missiles are claimed to be a part of the "credible deterrence" against China and Pakistan.

India stated that its nuclear and missile development programmes are not Pakistan-centric, that the Pakistani threat is only a marginal factor in New Delhi's security calculus, and that Agni is at the heart of deterrence in the larger context of Sino-Indian equation.The range for Agni-2 is performance, repeated guidance more than 2000 km. The missile weighs 17 tonnes and its range can be increased to 3,000 km by reducing the payload. It can be fired from both rail and road mobile launchers. It takes only 15 minutes for the missile to be readied for firing.